Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉), who is allegedly responsible for a fire at a hospital in Pingtung County that killed nine people in October last year, has been released on bail of NT$5 million (US$152,318).
Su, former honorary director of Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital in Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港), was questioned and released on bail on Wednesday, the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
Su is suspected of negligent homicide and contravening building regulations, the prosecutors’ statement said.
Photo: Taipei Times
“The task force will continue to review the evidence, clarify the facts and determine responsibility as quickly as possible,” they said.
Nine people — eight patients and one hospital employee — died in a fire that broke out in Block D of the hospital building, where 324 patients were staying, the Pingtung County Government’s Communication and International Affairs Division said on Oct. 3 last year.
Su yesterday thanked the county government for its support and the prosecutors for their “diligence,” but said that it was “inconvenient” to discuss the matter with reporters while the investigation was ongoing.
At a news conference on Jan. 3, the Pingtung County Government said that illegal construction work had been done on about 47 percent of the hospital’s 21,830m2 area.
It also said it had not received any reports of illegal construction at the hospital over the past 10 years, and that the Department of Urban and Rural Development was the primary competent authority tasked with ensuring regulatory compliance at the hospital.
If convicted of negligent homicide under Article 276 of the Criminal Code, Su could face up to five years in prison for each charge.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS